The Happiness Waltz

If you savor porkpie hats and lazy weekend afternoons at Starbucks, then The Happiness Waltz is for you. Rouse's delicate folk-pop is smooth, upbeat and refreshing like spring showers. As a matter of fact, spring's sense of renewal and budding romance is what the album is all about. On "Simple Pleasure" (dig that Stevie Wonder-style harmonica) he muses on how domestic bliss can conquer bad times. Then there's "A Lot Like Magic," which explores the endless joys of a cozy stay-in-bed breakfast with your lover (by the way, Rouse's meal of choice is "coffee and a toast and a peppermint tea").